Lord Ayyappa devotees who wish to go to SabarimalaTemple observe vratham or follow certain austerities for one mandalam season that is 41 days. The main aim of the Mandala Kala Vratam is to purify the mind and soul. The Mandalam season begins in the Malayalam month Vrichikam and ends in the middle of Dhanu month.

The Mandala Vratham is also observed by many devotees who don’t intent to go to SabarimalaTemple.

Austerities followed during Mandala Vratham

Waking up early and having a bath.

Many people visit a nearby shrine or pray at home.

Most devotees take food only after bath.

Non-vegetarian food is totally avoided during the 41 day period.

Devotees try to consume freshly cooked vegetarian food.

Evening bath and visiting a shrine or puja at home is performed.

Most devotees observe Brahmacharyam (no sex or celibacy) during the vratham period.

Those devotees going to the Sabarimala temple apart from observing the austerities wear a mala made from Rudrakhsam or Tulsi beeds. This ritual is known as Maladharan. It is performed at a temple or in one’s own house after performing a simple puja. The garland is received from a temple priest or from a guruswami or from an elderly person amidst chanting of Swami Saranam.

Devotees during this period wear blue, black or ochre (yellow-orange color) dress. Most devotees do not cut their hair or shave during the Mandalam period.

Some strict Ayyappa devotees even avoid wearing footwear during this period.

Even after visiting the Sabarimala temple, some people complete the 41-day period of Vratham. Some people terminate the Vratham after visiting the shrine.

Nowadays many devotees wear the garland a couple of days prior to visiting the shrine or on the day of visiting the shrine. And several devotees don’t strictly follow the traditional Vratham.

Sant Keshavadas writes in the book 'Self-Realization'

A man who practices any spiritual discipline rigidly, at any cost, is really doing ‘tapas’. The inner meaning of ‘tapas’ is burning. It burns all karmas and all ignorance. The daily practice of ‘Sandhya Vandana’ or morning and evening meditation, daily reading of the holy texts, daily chanting of the ‘Gayatri Mantra’ for a number of times, daily worshipping god, are all ‘tapas’. If it is rigidly practiced at least for forty days at a stretch one should certainly reach one step higher than before in the path of truth. The Vedas declare: The foundation of all creation is ‘tapas’.

It is up to each individual whether he/she wants to perform the traditional austerities or not.